The Greed of Mages and a Troll’s Miss Judgment! 

{pictures maybe} 

The night was young… and beautiful... The moon was full in her colors… but with the wind… they came… in their fancy armor, they came over the hills…Elves! Fully masked and endowed with their sharpened steel… the owls betrayed us… and the frogs cloaked their steps with their songs… 

The patrols didn't stand a chance… for this night… was the night I watched the weak taken and the strong killed… and as the night grew… the moon's colors seemed red… red in troll's blood! Where our homes lit the torches of the night…. And that our dead… our crypts were emptied! 

The enemy… our enemy… wasn't content to just steal our lands… but now… now they go for our dead! For how much longer are we forced to watch, as they mock our traditions… Zul'jin you promised… and we have waited… for how much longer… do I have to keep burying our young men… our children… and our culture? 

With each day... There are fewer of us… where even the elements are telling me to fight… and my ancestors are begging me to lead…huh… Oh! How… How I have watched… and waited long enough…today… TODAY IS THE DAY! I WILL LEAD THE SHADOWPINE TO WAR! 

→Excerpt by chieftain Kel'gash's inner thoughts← 

As the eternal moonlight focused onto the forest… the ghosts and tigers spoke as they hid from the drum beats… for as the elves looked out from their gentle pyres from within Farstrider enclave… they saw the moonlight shining on a troll army in between the shadows of the trees! 

And like an angry beast, they chanted their voodoo magic! And to the sound of their war drums, they formed clouds that poured out their rain and thunder! And so, they charged head first with axes and lions bearing their fangs! With their bodies covered in war paint that sealed their skin with whatever loa they still believed in… 

With bone ornaments that dance with the movement of their muscular bodies... they charged uncaring of death! They throw their axes at the shields of the elves, while other brave trolls soaked up the mage's fire with their own skin! With a bodied pierced by arrows and eyes that contained a frenzy of blood lust, Kel'gash slit the throats of many elves… 

And as the rain washed the blood that dripped off his forearms, Kel'gash snarled as he locked eyes with his enemy… Captain Helios! An elf captain with a pedigree of accomplishments… A war veteran from the second war! And now is a warrior of renown dressed in ceremonial phoenix armor! And with an outstretched sword, he had a visual of disgust at the troll, Helios even scoffed at the being he believed to be lesser… 

Seeing Helios's blatant challenge, Kel'gash gnashed his teeth in blood! And tossed an axe mixed with thunder at Helios! With a petty shield block, Helios set his sword downward at Kel'gash! A move that brought an unusual smile to Kel'gash's face… for his Voodoo magic waited for this moment! 

A moment that seemed to have frozen, as the two severed heads of former blood elves, opened up their eyes from their pike prison! Eyes that were stained black, and mouths that opened in bloody freshness… with a tongue that spoke in unknowns… a cruel spell… a cursed spell… 

One that spoke of pain and misery… 

Meanwhile back at the sanctum of the Sun: 

As Layla closed the door behind her, she turned to face Lanthios, who to her surprise… was busy playing a game of strength with the two blood elf guards! With a facepalm, Layla sighed and called out to him, when she caught a pair of yellow eyes watching… 

With a squint, she silently sent a butterfly, that was as small as a firefly. A tiny glow that the shade failed to comprehend! As it inched closer… its invisible hands pressed against the 

 tree… its eyes shining on the figure that is Lanthios… 

[what a bright outline…is this the light my master is looking for?] said the shade as he continued to watch the game of strength in curiosity. 

But blinded by Lanthios's light… the butterfly flew unnoticed… and with a light touch… the butterfly landed on the shade! It was only then that he felt the disturbed mana… but his alertness was too late! For as he turned to run… he was caught in a vortex of butterflies! 

Feeling the warmth of their fire, the shade felt no pain… but could feel himself deteriorating… as the unholy mana used to make him was being purified! 

[impossible!] thought the shade in horror as he looked up to see Layla's smiling face! 

[IT WAS HER! But how? Normal arcane magic shouldn't be able to do this!] he continued to think. 

But as he withered away with the wind, the shade grew angry… but without a way to give words to voice… a specter like him… could only watch himself fade… As the last of her embers died, Layla turned to the fools who were supposed to be playing guard: 

[what are you three doing? You know what... On second thought… don't tell me! Lanthios let's go! We have something important to discuss! You can play with your new "friends' later!] nagged Layla with an annoyed expression. 

{friends! What friends! And what was that that fire about?} replied Lanthios as the other two elves coughed and returned to their stoic positions as if the scene before hadn't happened. 

[don't worry about it… it was just some ghost or something...] replied Layla, much to the confusion of Lanthios… 

As the pair stood at a crossroads, Layla said: 

[umm…] 

{what is it, Layla? What did the magistrate say?} replied Lanthios 

[well… he asked if we could investigate the two towers along the dead scar heading to Deatholme, and that if we found anything noteworthy, to head into the heart of Deatholme itself…] replied Layla with worry 

Now, Lanthios knew full well, what lies in Deatholme and the two towers, and said: 

{Yeah… no! Not going to happen! If the magistrate wants to know so badly, then they can go check it out themselves! We have better things to do than play the adventure!} 

[...] replied Layla in thought 

Seeing Layla in complex thought, Lanthios let out a big sigh and continued 

{Look, I know the magistrate order or whatever is a big deal to mages but… remember we're here looking for your mother! We're not here to go fighting some war that doesn't concern us… and personally, I'm sick of fighting the undead!} 

[I know… Lanthios… I know… It's just that the reward he promised me is…] replied Layla like a child who wanted a toy. 

{A reward? Is the reward worth betting our lives for?} replied Lanthios in doubt as he remembered the rewards from the game, and sure they were nice rare items but… were they worth risking his life for? 

[he promised me… a staff of the sun… and its a great staff… but] 

{but what?} pressed Lanthios 

[ugh… he promised me…] 

{well spill it out! Don't leave me in suspense here!} replied Lanthios with a taping foot 

[a spell book…] 

{A spell book?} 

[Yes! A SPELL BOOK! He promised me one spell book from his vast library!] replied Layla in excitement 

{...} replied Lanthios with huh, expression 

[ugh! You're impossible! Think about it! Just one tome from his library could teach me any number of FIRE SPELLS!] Layla continued lost in her excitement 

{that's true…but don't you already know a bunch of fire spells? Or at least have some grasp on most of them? Why not pick out a frost spell instead… speaking of frost magic… how did you even cast so many different types during our last fight?} asked Lanthios 

Ugh… just hearing the word frost magic sent an annoying chill down Layla's back as she replied: 

[luck? I honestly don't know] 

Hearing this, Lanthios's eyes grew suspicious and replied 

{right…} 

[anyway… this opportunity is too good to just pass up…maybe we should give it some thought...] replied Layla with hopeful eyes… 

Weak to Layla's sparkling eyes, Lanthios gave it more thought before saying: 

{umm… I guess it could be worth a try…} 

[YES!] cheered Layla unexpectedly 

{hold up! Now Layla…Before we go risking our lives in the lion's den, tell the magistrate that we will investigate the towers but, on our terms… and remember Layla we just got here, so, we should ask around town for a bit to gather more information about your mother and these towers…} said Lanthios 

And so with a happy mood, Layla gracefully walked back to the sanctum to accept the quest, when Lanthios suddenly stopped her one last time and said: 

{hold up Layla… you said, he promised you a reward but what about me?] 

[oh!... Lanthios…I don't think…] replied Layla with side eyes… 

{you don't think he would give a 'mongrel' like me a reward, right? That's fine… just tell him, that since you're my master, that you will need to be equally compensated in advance since this mission could result in my death.} replied Lanthios 

[will that really work?] asked Layla with a doubtful face 

{yes, and no... he will give you some lame excuse but his excuse doesn't matter, what does matter though, is that he doesn't want to do this 'clearly dangerous mission' himself… so much so that he is willing to send a child in his stead… 

In honesty this whole thing feels suspicious… he is probably one of our enemies and is trying to send us into a trap or plans to remove a future mage, that may impede his future position or something retarded like that… 

Or he is a scared puss, but either way, if he is a scared puss… then that works more in our favor and he will be more willing to give you an extra reward… if he is our enemy, he will probably either deny you or give you a lesser reward since he considers me a pet… 

So, just emphasize how much of an important 'pet' I am! And DEMAND a reward upfront!} replied Lanthios in dramatics. 

[I think I get it… but then what reward should I ask for?] replied Layla 

{easy…Layla! Just ask what all mages would…} replied Lanthios with a sly smile 

[A tome! But would he really give me two?] asked Layla doubtful 

{he will… you just need to ask for a more common one… like say living bomb perhaps… if I remember right it's a pretty common spell, it's just that douche… Azrael didn't let you finish learning it.} replied Lanthios after much deliberation on what spells would fit Layla. 

[I see but hold up, Lanthios… didn't you just say to emphasize how important you are to me… won't he then find it suspicious of me to ask for such a 'cheap' spell…] replied Layla in confusion 

{in a normal world he should, but after witnessing the arrogance of the magister firsthand, coupled with your explanation of how he acted with you alone… he will probably just choke it up to you still being a kid and not knowing any better… in fact, this may even help you score a better spell book as your main reward when this is all over…} replied Lanthios 

[okay… I'll try…] replied Layla a little nervous 

{Don't worry too much, just go all in with confidence! I'm sure you can do it! Just think about all the crap we've been through already… and if we could handle that… then what is a magister in comparison!} replied Lanthios with a chest bump! 

Meanwhile back in Farstrider enclave: 

Through the burning of corpses and the frozen rain…the trolls retreated back into their woods like the boogeyman… bleeding and running for their lives… their leader had to accept the fact that they had lost…but though they had lost… the number of elves they had killed was no small number… with a defeated grin, Kel'gash enjoyed the blood that smeared his body…even with a hand missing and his prize elven heads destroyed… 

But while he fled back into his forest home, Captain Helios enjoyed the warmth of the braziers, as he stared into its fire… and through the fire, he watched as the noisy priest healed the injured or prayed for the dead…and with a missing eye and blacken armor… Helios swore the end of the trolls!